This Blog was written by: Peter Meitanis WANTED: The Beneficial Owners of Real Estate in British Columbia If you’re a fan of movies about the Wild West, you’ll know that many plotlines revolve around a mysterious stranger coming to town. But in British Columbia, the mysterious strangers aren’t riding into…

Recently, one of my blog colleagues wrote on the residency rules regarding tax free saving accounts (TFSA’s). Generally, as an owner of TFSA, if you leave Canada, the accumulated funds may remain in the TFSA without Canadian tax consequences. You can’t make any further contributions but you can make withdrawals….

Under the current rules, a trust only needs to file an annual tax return but generally does not need to file the return if it does not earn an income or make any distributions in the year. (Notwithstanding that the Canada Revenue Agency has increased its demand for “nil returns”…

By Derek de GannescloseAuthor: Derek de GannesName: Derek de GannesEmail: derek.degannes@rsmcanada.comSite:https://www.rsmcanada.com/About: Derek A. de Gannes: Director, Domestic & International Tax of RSM Canada. RSM Canada is committed to the highest level of integrity, quality and professionalism and provides clients with solutions in the area of Audit, Tax and Transaction Services. Email: derek.degannes@rsmcanada.comSee Authors Posts (94) •
April 3, 2018
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The Canada Revenue Agency provided its views regarding the income tax implications of a gift made by executors of an estate of a deceased individual. The taxpayer died in 2016. His Will named his three sons as equal beneficiaries and co-executors, with no designation of amounts to be given to…

By Derek de GannescloseAuthor: Derek de GannesName: Derek de GannesEmail: derek.degannes@rsmcanada.comSite:https://www.rsmcanada.com/About: Derek A. de Gannes: Director, Domestic & International Tax of RSM Canada. RSM Canada is committed to the highest level of integrity, quality and professionalism and provides clients with solutions in the area of Audit, Tax and Transaction Services. Email: derek.degannes@rsmcanada.comSee Authors Posts (94) •
March 6, 2018
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The Canada Revenue Agency recently responded to a ruling request as to whether or not a proposed amendment to a trust agreement could be so significant to cause a resettlement of the trust, or a disposition of a beneficiary’s interest in the trust Before the enactment of variation of trusts…

By Derek de GannescloseAuthor: Derek de GannesName: Derek de GannesEmail: derek.degannes@rsmcanada.comSite:https://www.rsmcanada.com/About: Derek A. de Gannes: Director, Domestic & International Tax of RSM Canada. RSM Canada is committed to the highest level of integrity, quality and professionalism and provides clients with solutions in the area of Audit, Tax and Transaction Services. Email: derek.degannes@rsmcanada.comSee Authors Posts (94) •
February 13, 2018
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The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) was asked whether medical assistance in dying would be considered a medical service for the purpose of the medical expense tax credit (METC). Not surprising, their answer was yes. In their view, the services for medical assistance in dying are medical services for the purpose…

By Jacob KaufmancloseAuthor: Jacob KaufmanName: Jacob KaufmanEmail: jkaufman@devrieslitigation.comSite:http://devrieslitigation.com/about/jacob-kaufman/About: Jacob Kaufman is a lawyer with de VRIES LITIGATION LLP. Jacob assists clients with will challenges, dependant support claims, guardianship applications, power of attorney disputes and other estate and trust litigation matters. He has appeared before various levels of court, including the Superior Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal for Ontario. Jacob obtained his law degree from the University of Western Ontario (with distinction) after completing an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen’s University in history (with distinction). He has written articles for the International Law Office, Legal Alert and the OBA’s Deadbeat.
Email: jkaufman@devrieslitigation.comSee Authors Posts (24) •
February 7, 2018
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This blog was co-authored with Ronald Neal, student-at-law. John the Farmer wanted to buy the family farm after his mother died. His siblings wanted to sell it on the open market. In Janicek v. Janicek, 2018 ONSC 681, the court had to decide which outcome the will dictated. Background The…

The phrase “No good deed goes unpunished” is often attributed to Clara Boothe Luce, an American Dramatist, who was the first American woman appointed to a significant ambassadorial post abroad. Today it is often used to express the idea that beneficial actions often go unappreciated or are met with hostility. …

A common estate planning technique is to structure a family trust which owns the shares of a small business corporation in such a way that allows each beneficiary (most commonly being members of the taxpayer’s immediate family – spouse and/or children) to participate in the sale or disposition of the…

Sometime ago, I wrote that the Income Tax Act requires persons and partnerships to file information returns in respect of foreign property ownership (specified foreign property in excess $100,000) and transactions with non-residents . This extends to trusts and estates. Those who file such a return late or do not…